ARTS >19th-century ship on display at museum

The old ship is brought to the museum after a three-year restoration process.

A 119-year-old English ship called the Ysolt has gone on display at Istanbul’s Rahmi Koç Museum following a restoration process that lasted three years.

The ship, which had been abandoned for nearly 40 years, came to the museum from Istanbul’s RMK Marine shipyard. The trip to the museum was the last ever for the Ysolt as its copper bottom means that it must be displayed on land rather than at sea, Rahmi Koç, Koç Holding’s honorary president, recently told journalists during a ceremony for the ship at the museum. Koç said the ship was built in 1893 by an English businessman and was reputedly one of the fastest steamships during the 19th century. Later, the vessel was occasionally used as an office, he added.

The ship was abandoned near a river for 35 years until the museum purchased the vessel and launched the three-year restoration process after first bringing it to the Aegean province of İzmir.

The ship is 17 meters long and three meters wide. The Ysolt was first bought by William Capkin during World War II and stayed at Heybridge Basin, Maldon and Essex. In 1952 the ship survived a large flood.